I just found now that George has posted yet another one of my tracks sent for a prior UT show fundraiser in 1999 as part of another commercial compilation for sale. Needless to say, I didn't consent to this and had no prior knowledge of this other compilation, nor did he even mention it as we were discussing the withdrawal of the Veldt Hypnosis track. I ask that my fans not support the sale of his various compilations until he obtains proper consents from all artists on them.

The other thing I thought was interesting is that now he's saying that this compilation is for commercial purposes, and is not intended as a fundraiser. That's another reason he should have made his intentions more explicit. I've learned from my legal practice that this carelessness is the sort of thing that can end up in litigation. He at least is now doing the right thing.

It's an earlier version of the piece, so I didn't want it to be competing with the finished one. BTW, I went back to my email correspondence from October 2013 and he only mentioned the special radio show and not a possible compilation for sale. I'm probably not the only one who didn't know.

I was probably more irritated by his tone more than anything else.

I offered him a piece in its place, but he wasn't interested. Oh well. Can't say I didn't try!

I've been contacted by George of UT and artists named on the compilation are being given the opportunity to opt out of the compilation. According to the email, the proceeds will be split evenly with the artists. I have reluctantly opted out of use of my track ,"Veldt Hypnosis," because the final version of it was released on my 2015 album, "Letters To The Farthest Star," and it is therefore already available. The link is currently down, presumably so that other artists can decide whether to opt out or stay in.

Nice to see, but I don't remember hearing about it becoming a formal release when I agreed to contribute a track. $20 seems a little high, considering that I think everyone donated their tracks. Oh well, it's for a good cause.

Forrest, I never got a chance to play with a 2500, I bet that was fun. I learn synthesis on a Moog 35 and a giant Buchla 100. It was interesting as they both had different approaches. I really liked the tune-able touch keypad on the Buchla. I'd love to get something like that or the Serge system one.

Buchla! I was a fan of Morton Subonick's 70s albums on Buchla's Electric Music Box (Four Butterflies, Until Spring) and was lucky enough to have interviewed Subotnick for a campus magazine. Finally got to see a Buchla up close at the Exploratorium in the early 90s. The touch plates look cool. I like the fact that they weren't tied to a Western-style keyboard. My electronic music teacher, Tom Hamilton, had a Serge, which seemed much more portable than the synth monsters in the campus studio.

This pic of the ARP 2500 is comparable to the one I used when studying electronic music in school (sorry the res is low):

No patchcords! But the oscillators would constantly drift out of tune. Its sequencer was a gas. I think Richard Pinhas (Heldon) used one. I didn't use the Moog Mark V that much because it was cumbersome, though I loved the ribbon controller.

The surprise of NAMM for me was the reintroduction of the Gizmotron. Something that Godley & Creme of 10cc fame made back in the 1970s. It never worked that well and kind of disappeared becoming almost mythic. Well the patents have long lapsed and then some guys in New Jersey bought the name of the company and started redesigning it from the ground up. It now works and is for sale, it should be out in a few months.

Sounds great! I wonder if it would work with acoustic strings as well. I remember Paul Horn using his flute to vibrate the inside strings of a piano in the 70s to create an infinite sustain without the flute being audible. Maybe back then they just used highly amplified contact microphones.

Wow, looks cool. Reminds me of the Serge modular my EM teacher Tom Hamilton and my friend Ed Herrmann had. I remember well the hours and days it would take to develop modular patches on the ARP 2500 and Moog Mark V when I was in school. One minor tweak and the patch would be lost forever. If I had it to do over again, I would have recorded much larger chucks of my improvs on those patches, so that I could layers them into pieces much later down the line.

To coincide with today’s formal release date for my new Projekt album, “The Sleepwalker’s Ocean,” I’d like to share these two recent pieces with you as a thank you for listening.

The first piece, “Chimera,” is an outtake from my recordings for this release. I left it off only because it didn’t seem to fit anywhere. The piece has elements that were composed at different times and were blended together much later. The second piece, “Arrow,” is a short experimental piece I recorded recently just for fun. It incorporates two instruments that date back to my childhood: a drum with a cardboard frame that my father helped me make in Indian Guides and a pair of maracas given to my family by a visiting exchange student. I’ve included a picture of them. Hope you enjoy the music.